And All The Reflecting
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: Sometimes Max thinks about how much she's grown to want Caroline's companionship.  Not slash.


**So...I sat down trying to pound out a Big Bang Theory or Mentalist one shot...but this is what happened instead. My second 2 Broke Girls one shot - hope you like!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. And I'm not sure I'd want to because I couldn't do them justice.**

Sometimes she made sexual or politically incorrect comments just to make Caroline laugh. Sometimes she made them just to see the horrified look on Caroline's face. Sometimes she made them just to hear Caroline's comeback; ever since "same face, no sound" delivered without missing a beat in the bar back in the early days of their friendship, Max almost craved having bad ass Caroline in her life. It was refreshing.

Sometimes she still said those things to make her uncomfortable and assert her dominance to remind the former heiress that _I have lived like this my entire life._ Maybe Caroline was proud of replacing the paper towels or waiting an extra hour to use the bathroom at the diner when they ran out of toilet paper, but she still didn't know what it was like to have lived in poverty over the long haul. Max never had an old supply of tat rings to sell when she needed an oven. Max never had a townhouse to break into . Max never had a father in prison to send her flowers on Valentine's Day.

So yes, once in a while, Max still tried to remind her of that fact. As shocking as it was to go from having everything to almost nothing, living with nothing one's whole life was not a piece of cake simply because "you get used to it."

Of course, Max always told Caroline to simply get used to it. Because admitting that it was hard sometimes wasn't in Max's character.

Sometimes she agreed to spending a little bit of the cupcake money to go down to the bar on night's that Johnny wasn't working and taking a few shots, because Caroline was the one who wanted to go to a cheap dentist so not to put a dent in their future. When Caroline suggested they go out and drink, it always happened to be when Max was feeling down enough to actually go. She realized somewhere along these lines that that meant that Caroline knew her well enough to see past her "don't get attached" attitude and understand when Max really needed a break.

And Max hated that.

Or so she thought.

She was beginning to figure out that she was glad to have someone who could read her that way, and who didn't make her admit it.

And it had been a long time since she had had someone to take care of her when she was sick.

Sometimes, when they came home after a long day, Caroline and Max were too worn out and worn down to pull Caroline's Murphy bed down. They shuffled into Max's room and collapsed on her bed, sleeping for hours exactly where they'd fallen. And sometimes they pulled down Caroline's bed and then reached that Point of No Energy and fell there, too. But more often than not, they were sharing a bed, and they didn't even consider it weird anymore because it's not like they were romantically involved. They were sleeping, and since when was there anything wrong with that?

And sometimes, just sometimes, Max thought about it all. She thought about the joking, the waiting for a response, the mixed feeling of regret and exhilaration when they spent a few dollars of their cupcake money, the collapsing into sleep, and the visits to the barn and Chestnut that more than once ended with them amusing themselves by asking complete strangers if they liked their perfume just to see how many would be polite and say Yes.

Max wiped the table off, clearing off the globs of dried frosting that had fallen there while she decorated, in her simple, not pretty – enough way, the cupcakes she'd made for the diner that evening, and glanced over at Caroline, who was still going through all those old bills and trying to figure out who was dead and didn't need to be paid off. Smirking to herself, Max pushed a drying blob of frosting free with her fingers and flicked it in Caroline's direction. It bounced off of the paper in front of her, and the blonde looked up, confused. Max sent another one her way; this one bounced off Caroline's chest and down into her cleavage.

Her jaw dropping in mock anger, Caroline jumped up and flicked the first chunk of frosting back Max's way, and the brunette dodged it. Caroline reached into her purse, pulled out a tampon, and chucked it Max's way. "Hey!"

Caroline's response was to shrug, somewhat playfully, and go back to her attempt at fixing Max's past. Max crossed her arms, biting the side of her lip and nodding slowly.

Sometimes the strays you picked up off the street brought much more to your life than fleas and muddy floors. Sometimes you found a loyal friend that improved your life in ways you thought didn't need improving, and made you believe that you could improve in ways you thought were impossible.

**Hope you liked it! I know it wasn't really plot focused, but it's the best way I could think of to show how Max has really bonded with Caroline. If you could take the time to review, that'd be awesome. :)**


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